Calgarian Kathleen McCallum is an Alberta College of Art, Visual Communications graduate. Her background in graphic design is evident in her eye-catching paintings, which exude beauty and a playfulness; her love of detail and colour is visible in her artwork. Her paintings can be found in private and corporate collections and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Provincial Collection.
Artist Statement
“Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
As the noren curtain parted and Kathleen stepped into hidden spaces, something within her shifted. Her month-long journey through Japan was more than travel – it was a transformation.
There is an elegance to everyday life in Japan: beauty not only in nature or tradition, but also in the way people move, think, and carry themselves with quiet grace. This presence made her pause, look inward, and reflect on how she lives, how she creates, and what she truly sees.
Japanese Joy, her latest body of work, reflects this experience. From Hokkaido’s snowy hills in the north to the soft rustle of cherry blossoms in the south, every place carried its own quiet poetry, layered into each painting with memory and meaning – signed like a hanko stamp in her own hand, through a Western lens.
